Muscat, November 30 (ONA) - The Sultanate, represented by the Oman Olympic Committee, participated in the 32nd meeting of the heads of the GCC Olympic committees via video conferencing.
The Sultanate’s delegation participating in the meeting was headed by Sayyid Khalid bin Hamad Al Busaidi, Chairman of the Oman Olympic Committee, in the presence of Sheikh Saif bin Hilal Al Hosani, Vice Chairman of the Committee, Taha bin Sulaiman Al Kushari, Secretary General of the Committee, and Saada bint Salem Al Ismailia, Member of the Board of Directors.
The heads of the GCC Olympic Committees extended their sincere thanks and gratitude to their Majesties and Highnesses, the leaders of the GCC States for their continuous support and right decisions directed to support the youth of the GCC countries and advance the march of joint GCC sporting work and their sound guidance to achieve the hopes and aspirations of the GCC athletes.
The heads of the GCC Olympic Committees stressed the importance of developing a unified vision regarding the formulation of modern methods in employing future files and including them in all future plans, foremost among which is the exploitation of science and technology supported by research to find solutions to common challenges facing the region, and the development of the infrastructure of sports facilities and future projects that serve the segments of society, as well as the inclusion of partnerships between the GCC and other countries and organizations in the strategic plan to develop joint work in the sports field.
The heads of the GCC Olympic Committees decided to assign the formed work team to prepare a strategic plan to develop joint work in the sports field by taking advantage of the unified advisory system issued by the Supreme Council, the general directions and principles and the executive plan for joint work in the field of volunteer work approved by the ministers of social affairs in the GCC countries.
Regarding the recommendation of the Executive Office in its 19th preparatory meeting held yesterday regarding the establishment of the Gulf Sports Dispute Resolution Commission, the heads of the Gulf Committees decided to form a Board of Trustees of the Gulf Sports Dispute Resolution Commission with expertise and competence who meet the conditions mentioned in the statute of the Commission. The GCC Olympic committees will provide the General Secretariat with the names of their candidates in the Board of Trustees. They also decided to activate the headquarters of the Commission in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and approve the appointment of Dr. Abdulrahman bin Rashid Al-Khashram as its executive director.
The participants looked at the memorandum of the General Secretariat regarding the adoption of a daily sports study session that is binding for all educational levels, and the decisions issued by the Ministers of Health, Ministers of Education, and Ministers of Youth and Sports in the GCC countries in this regard. The mandate of the Gulf Olympic Committees was approved to implement the recommendations contained in the unified vision to enhance sports practice among all segments of society, and to urge the national sports associations to support and sponsor school sports competitions, and to recommend taking into account the mechanism by which physical education classes are dealt with in schools in the GCC countries, in order to develop practical aspects of the theoretical side in these lessons.
The heads of the GCC Olympic Committees approved a strategic plan for developing joint work in the sports field, to be implemented next year for a period of five years. They also approved the formation of a working group headed by Taha bin Sulaiman Al-Kushari, Secretary-General of the Oman Olympic Committee and a member of the Executive Office to follow up the implementation of the plan and lay down the general framework for implementation, and to submit periodic reports explaining the progress of work in its implementation and any obstacles encountered to study them in order to present options and alternatives to overcome them.
The heads of the GCC Olympic Committees also decided to include equestrian sport (free jumping competition) and winter games (hockey competition) as part of the optional games in the third Gulf sports tournament to be held in Kuwait during the period from 7 to 17 March 2021. It was also agreed that the Kuwaiti Olympic Committee would merge the competitions of the third Gulf Beach Sports Games with the Gulf Sports Games to be in one games, and exceptionally for this session, provided that a number of sports would be added, namely beach football, beach handball, 3x3 beach basketball, beach volleyball, and jet-skis. The attendees urged the GCC Olympic committees to actively participate in the tournament's competitions, and assign the organizing committees for sports in the GCC countries to provide all forms of technical support while harnessing all their capabilities to make the tournament’s activities a success.
The heads of the GCC Olympic Committees briefed the memorandum of the General Secretariat on international cooperation and decided to assign a work team to follow up the implementation of the strategy for developing joint work in the sports field in the GCC countries to include the international cooperation aspect as a main focus in the strategic plan. They also decided to coordinate with regional and international organizations in the field of sports to find joint work programs and to study the experiences and expertise of these organizations in the sports field, and to present the issue of sports cooperation with friendly and brotherly countries that have cooperation with the General Secretariat to be one of the axes and areas in which it is possible to cooperate with those countries, with an emphasis on continuing cooperation in the sports field between the GCC countries and both the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Kingdom of Morocco.
(ONA)